FEI Offers Remote Assistance for Phenom Electron Microscopes

FEI Company
(Nasdaq: FEIC), a leading provider of atomic-scale imaging and analysis systems,
today announced the immediate availability of Phenom™ Remote Assistant,
a new service enhancement that allows for remote tracking, diagnostics and repair
of Phenom personal scanning electron microscope (SEM) systems.

“Phenom Remote Assistant enhances productivity by providing reduced time
to repair, and increased reliability and up-time of the system,” said
Paul Scagnetti, FEI’s Industry Division vice president and general manager.
“Our customers can anticipate service problems before they arise and resolve
them with the help of FEI service engineers remotely.”

The Phenom Remote Assistant is powered by RAPID (Remote Access Program for
Interactive Diagnostics), which is FEI’s secure infrastructure for remote
diagnostics. RAPID provides a highly-secure, encrypted, VPN (virtual private
network) connection between the customer and FEI service engineer. All remote
connections are initiated from the Phenom side, so the customer is always in
complete control.

Phenom Remote Assistant reduces the likelihood that customers will have to
take a Phenom off-line and return it to the service center. FEI service engineers
can remotely track key performance metrics over time, run service test diagnostics
on the system, check and modify tool settings, and even view microscope images
to access quality and provide expert operations advice.

The Phenom Remote Assistant is available at no additional charge with all Phenom
personal SEMs. The Phenom is a unique imaging tool that makes high-end imaging
practical and affordable for both educational use as well as a variety of industrial
applications. It combines light optical and electron optical technologies in
one integrated, easy-to-use microscope system. Offering magnification of up
to 24,000x and 30 nm resolution (about 100,000 times smaller than the diameter
of a human hair) in 30 seconds, the Phenom opens the door to the micro- and
nanoscale worlds.

Graphene oxide membranes have been receiving attention for their extremely powerful separation abilities and the ease at which it can be modified, allowing for membrane permittivity to be fine-tuned. These membranes show the potential to be used for water purification, ‘green’ gas purification and greenhouse gas capture.